a world of café stories

Proud Mary, Melbourne

By KENNY MAH and CK LIM

Hidden in the somewhat shabby back streets of Collingwood is perhaps the crown jewel of the city’s café scene, Proud Mary. The warehouse-style café was opened in 2009 by Nolan Hirte who has assembled a crew of dedicated baristas, usually skinny, tattooed and bearded (the men, that is), to pump out great coffee non-stop.

The warm red brick walls, communal tables and high stools are matched by a colourful crowd of customers. There’s a vibrant vibe here: these juice junkies eagerly await their orders from the bar that is stocked with all manner of brewing equipment – pour-over, syphon, French press, Aeropress, and even a Clover coffee machine.

With their gigantic six-group custom-made Synesso espresso machine, complete with a special steam wand operated via a foot pedal, it’s no wonder some of Melbourne’s award-winning baristas such as John Vroom and Kris Wood were trained here.

We enjoy a cup each of Ethiopia Sidamo Guji and El Salvador San Joaquin. The Eastern African brew has fruity notes of apricot and passion fruit whereas the Central American coffee is subtler with a light hazelnut flavour.

It’s obvious the crew at Proud Mary take real pride in making and serving great cups of coffee — and how fortunate are we, this means every cup is a real pleasure.